www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Gentlemen,

I the meantime this is the course we are taking to secure saved credit card information in the future thanks to one of our "Special Members" who recommended it to us.......

Problem solved! http://www.truecrypt.org/ Good stuff! You can't beat the price! Just don't tell ANYBODY the password?


Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux

Main Features:

Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.

Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.

Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).

Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.

Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.

Encryption can be hardware-accelerated on modern processors.

Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:

Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.
More information about the features of TrueCrypt may be found in the documentation.

Thanks for ALL the support guys! We obviously have some great friends here on CRT!


Completed and installed by Wednesday August 10th, 2011.

All the Best,

Bill

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This post is provided purely for entertainment purposes and free of charge on the part of the author. No "Sex tourism or travel" promotion is expressed or implied. The author of this post was not provided any compensation for this hopefully entertaining contribution. Any posts regarding any event or hotel item are just my humble opinions only.

Hi Bill
I have a reservatio from Aug 10th to 15th.So what happens to the existing reservations? You still have them on another computer?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

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I die on the day I can't nut 5 times a day.

Valley Ranch,

All exsisting reservations are set & saved. If you have any questions please call during the hours of 7:00am CDT to 11:00pm CDT 1-800-291-2798 or write to info@sportsmenscr.com

Thanks,

Bill

_________________
This post is provided purely for entertainment purposes and free of charge on the part of the author. No "Sex tourism or travel" promotion is expressed or implied. The author of this post was not provided any compensation for this hopefully entertaining contribution. Any posts regarding any event or hotel item are just my humble opinions only.

Could not disagree more, there is a serious problem with credit card scanning and debit card scanning throughout LA and in CR in particular. I suggest everyone who had a cc that might be on that computer change their cc. It is painless and safe.

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

Well said

Very Professional Response and reply. You will definatly get my future business. You just can't be too careful with this information. It is better too be safe than sorry.

I cannot only speak from my personal perspective and that is that I am personally offended when some scumbag thief is using my cc number, that why I cancelled immediately when I knew about the theft/robbery.

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

This is my experience.

My credit card company offers a free service which notifies me by email and on my cellular phone if any credit card charges have been made including how much the charge was. I don’t know if that is a common service of most credit card companies.

Major purchases must be approved by me personally with specific codes and telephone calls. I have not tested that feature but I hope it works.

Generally I never use my credit card in CR so when circumstances forced me to stay in at a hotel in CR one night before my flight I had to use my credit card. My credit card company contacted me the next day by phone to ask if the charge was mine.

I have also one of the credit monitoring systems to let me know if any changes are made to my credit or if anyone has applied for credit in my name. This is particularly important if you value your credit and you live outside the US. If you live outside the US, say CR, you may get notified by US Mail and never know there is a problem in the US because you may never get your US mail in CR.

I am glad no one was hurt. See you Thursday Bill.

*I have a wealth of boots on the ground (low top comfys, I'll admit) business experience .
*a. I like Srilm and I like a lot of his post.

1. One point since part of my business is investigations. Question: Is a guy that is stealing cheap TVs off the wall really a crack cyber thief as well ?

1.A. Will the computers he/they grabbed, (In addition to Tvs and a few bar mugs, with the computers)
, actually get opened and searched for all the data or just be erased and sold along with the tvs after all their serial numbers are scratched off ?

'secret credit card data'? I don't think so and my best friend that stays at the Sportsman's Lodge did not change his card although he does change it at pre set times.

Now the rest of the story.

I have the highest fico score there is. I do so much credit card business which allows my 'free' airline travel, All by airline travel in 'miles' (free or very expensive as some might argue).

I change my CC numbers or expiration dates once a year except for one that I use ONLY for reoccurring charges like cable bills, toll booth passes, utility bills, secretary of state etc. I kept that card in the safe.

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

The obvious question is, why are our CC numbers being saved on a SL computer in the first place?

I understand doing a pre-authorization for a specific amount to cover a reservation for xx days stay at the SL, but beyond that, NO CC should EVER be stored indefinitely...

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"Mongo only pawn in game of life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3K6UmgJIOw

My limited observation us that little care is given to CC security in CR as a rule.

None of the hotels seem to have a problem emailing CC numbers with your reservation confirmation. That's a lot of CC's just sitting in their mailbox.

Bill, which guard was it?

In the States, there is a regulation called PCI/DSS for storing and handling CC information. This regulation was created by the credit card companies led by Visa. Foe example, any time a merchant stores any CC information on a server, information needs to be encrypted, and the PCs that contain CC info has to have certain user name and PW. PW "suppose" to be changed every every 3-6 months. Most of the PC based CC processing software for POS systems would make you change the password every 3 months. In theory, if audited, you can get fined. If any bleach occurs, the merchant is require to make a public announcement what had happened (such as in Sony PlayStation case).

Now with that said, I do not know if CC companies can force this regulation to Costa Rica or other countries, but eventually, they probably will.

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Yo-Eleven!!
Pura Vida!

I agree that using cash is a pain, but you never run the risk of having your CC compromised when paying in cash... You say you have never been hurt by having CC numbers stolen, I have... In the long run the CC company refunded the disputed amounts, but in one occurrence I was in a foreign country when my CC was compromised... The CC company froze my accounts due to suspicious transactions... I did not realize it until I tried to use the card and was informed it had been denied and was put on hold, which unto itself caused angst and embarrassment... Try unfreezing your accounts or getting new accounts and getting replacement card(s) while in a foreign country... The aggravation alone caused me to no longer use CC except for high-ticket items such as hotels and air fares with known entities...

As far as a company keeping your CC number on file, it is more of a risk than a benefit as the current situation highlights... There is absolutely no reason for any company to store CC numbers beyond the date of the transaction... Except in the case where it provides a convenience to the customer on return visits, such as eBay, PayPal, etc... In the case of the SL, I see no benefits from them storing my CC number... In fact, I was unaware that this was their practice and am a bit perturbed about it...

Hopefully the new measures that Bill has put in place at the SL will mitigate the risk...

_________________
"Mongo only pawn in game of life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3K6UmgJIOw